Two of the biggest factors against Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows Phone 7 operating system when it launched in late 2010 were lack of compelling packaging and lack of carrier support.

Handset makers:
Were more interested in Android.
Figured WP7 would be low volume.
Ironically, noticed that WP7 performed great on low-end hardware.

Thus they shoved the OS onboard their most ugly budget models. Ironically, many of these handsets still performed well, although they were far behind Android and Apple, Inc. (AAPL) in the looks department. This -- along with Microsoft not paying carriers sales commissions -- led to a general lack of interest in carriers pitching WP7 handsets.

I. Nokia and AT&T Are Windows Phone's Dynamic Duo

Well, all of that is starting to change, thanks to Nokia Oyj. (HEL:NOK1V) and AT&T Inc. (T).

The next trick was finding a carrier to pitch the phone to customers -- a vital step, given the general public apathy with regards to high technology. As Apple has demonstrated, a strong pitch can win over the masses.

AT&T long considered itself the "premium" WP7 vendor, yet its new efforts eclipse anything it has previously done -- or which any U.S. carrier has done, thus far, with Windows Phone.

Jeff Bradley, AT&T device chief says that the April 8 launch of the Lumia 900 will be a bigger launch than the exclusive 2007 Apple iPhone debut (or any iPhone debut for that matter). In a CNETinterview, he states, "At all levels, this is a notch above anything we've ever done. Before you walk in to the store, you know this is our hero phone. We're going big. We're really bullish."

AT&T says that the Nokia Lumia 900 launch will be bigger than any iPhone launch to date.
[Image Source: Geek.com]

Nokia and AT&T are being careful not to overhype too early, as has been the case with some Android devices that were hyped months before then sold poorly. Instead, they plan to unleash a flood of advertising almost consecutively with the launch.

Recall that even Sprint Nextel Corp.'s (S) -- a distant third in subscribers -- was able to give Android a big 2010 boost with its resounding 4G-backed commitment to the platform. When it's AT&T -- America's second largest carrier, Windows Phone may just have found its hero. Or perhaps given that AT&T is looking for the next great thing, with the end of iPhone exclusivity, perhaps the situation is the other way around -- AT&T has found an unexpected hero.

II. Truly Modern

AT&T could pick a worse superphone to stake its reputation on.

While Apple and Google are still stuck with 90s-era Chiclet icons, Microsoft's bleeding edge UI has been delighting the small crowd of early adopters with its rich modern tile-based UI. Windows Phone screams of a smartphone OS that isn't trying to be on the defining edge of modern -- it is the defining edge of modern. The only thing it is missing has been sales and handsets.

At this pace, it's on track to cross the 100,000 app mark by sometime mid-year. That places it in a lofty crowd that its current and former rivals like Research in Motion, Ltd. (TSE:RIM) and Hewlett Packard Comp. (HPQ) have struggled to reach. Recall that in mid-2009, Apple still only had 65,000 apps a year after the launch of the App Store.

With Apple and Android both reaching the saturation point, Microsoft is seeing soaring developer interest. And that ultimately means that most of the most beloved apps of Android and iOS are on Windows Phone.

At this point the only thing holding Microsoft back is the learning curve, but given that Microsoft's core apps are quite intuitive, it seems like customers could be talked into taking the plunge. A sub-$100 Lumia 900 could sweeten the deal substantially.

III. Nokia Lumia 800 Gets a Boost

While the Lumia 900 may be getting the bear's share of AT&T's hype -- and marketing dollars -- it's also important AT&T puts forth a well-rounded lineup. To that end, the Lumia 800 is receiving a major update.

While it's not official yet, write-ups have indicated the Lumia 800 is compatible with AT&T's network and may be headed to it later this spring/summer.

The Nokia Lumia 800 (left) and 710 (right). [Image Source: Nokia]

The new Lumia 800 software -- V1600.2487.8107.12070 -- is being moved forward from April 18 to starting this week. The four-week global rollout marks Nokia's third major update to the Lumia 800, which launched in November globally.

Nokia offers the humorous analogy that the update is like shepherding, writing:

The real-life analogy that I can think about to describe this is herding sheep through a gate. For a Windows Phone partner, developing a smartphone is like that: there’s always a balance to be struck between what you can do and what you’d like to do, between what you can offer now and later. But due to the urgent need to get this update in the hands of people, we were able to bring the schedule forward, although not all at the same time.

The update focuses on battery life and is supposed to bring total battery life up to around 25 to 30 hours on the stock 1450 mAh battery.

Again no U.S. carrier has officially launched the Lumia 800 -- yet. But both AT&T and America's top carrier Verizon Wireless (a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group Plc.'s (LON:VOD)) reportedly are moving towards deploying LTE-enabled variants. Together, the two giants account for around three quarters of the U.S. market in terms of subscribers.

For now AT&T is the clear leader of the Windows Phone charge.

But as happened with Sprint's Android pickup and AT&T's iPhone pickup, don't be surprised if Verizon Wireless jumps on the Windows Phone bandwagon in a big way this year or next.

Suddenly Windows Phone has gone pencil pushing shy nerd to the cool new kid in town. It's hard to say exactly how far it will rise, but it's safe to say that the Lumia 900 launch will be the first of its kind for Windows Phone.

Just out of curiosity have you compared to the gs2 running ice cream sandwich? The experience is noticeably smoother and more polished even on my epic touch running a leaked build. Would be interested to see how you feel that compares. I am really hoping that Sprint gets a new WP7 device this year.

I swapped phones with a guy at work when I first got the Nokia (because he thought it looked cool) for an hour and one of the first things he mentioned to me was how fast it was. When I got the Nokia back I certainly noticed that everything was considerably snappier.

To be fair the Lumia was less than a day old and the Galaxy Nexus probably a couple of months old. That said my Lumia is as fast today as it was the day I got it (but that was only a couple of weeks ago).

Yeah I've heard the Gnex isn't all that slick. Poor SOC choice on Google's part. My GS2 on ICS is ridiculous, I can't even imagine what faster CPUs will do with it (running at 1.5ghz now, on GB it would run at 1.8 if I really didn't need battery life). The new phones this summer are going to be crazy.